Legislative analysis says park is the place for some big improvements

With a history of financial instability at This Is The Place Heritage Park, the people running it are used to being scrutinized.

A legislative analyst report released Tuesday shows the park is having a banner year, but it is unclear which legislators — and which legislative committee — will keep tabs on the historical park, which receives $700,000 annually in state funding.

Salt Lake City's newly elected mayor, House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake — who will take the mayoral reins in Salt Lake City in January — pushed the Legislative Management Committee to seek a fiscal analysis of the park earlier this year. Now that Becker is changing jobs, it's unclear what will happen with the report and its findings.

"Any legislator could pick up the analysis and say, 'Let's do something about it,' but it has to be someone with initiative and the desire to do something about it," said Ivan Djambov, a legislative fiscal analyst who authored the report. "I completed (the report), and if somebody finds it to be helpful, then it will go forward. If not, then I've done my part."

Djambov's report says the park has improved since 2006 after a newly organized board of directors for This Is the Place Foundation took control. Volunteer hours have increased, and staff expenses have decreased, although Djambov recommends that a curator be hired to take care of the park's collection of pioneer artifacts.

The park will be open 88 days longer this year than in 2006, and as a result, it is expected that the park will host about 80,000 more visitors this year.

Although the park received a one-time $2 million boost from the Legislature in 2006, the report recommends that the state not be the sole funding source for the park. Instead, Djambov suggests that the park remain under the same management and look for an increase in donations and commercial revenue.

If the park were funded at the same percentage as other state parks, the state would have to appropriate an additional $1.3 million annually to the park. If the state took over park management, it would cost an additional $1.6 million annually.

Park executive director Matt Dahl said the new financial study is an apt reflection of the park's positive changes.

"We do get an awful lot of different audits," Dahl said. "We are examined quite closely with a number of people, and we've worked very closely with the state recently and had a couple of different audits and ... I actually feel supported by the report."